1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a driving assistance apparatus and a driving assistance method used to assist driving of a vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
An apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-122155 (JP 2007-122155 A), which detects a gaze of a driver in a direction of a branch road before reaching the branch road and estimates that a vehicle will proceed onto the branch road on the basis of a detection result including a gaze frequency and a cumulative gaze duration serving, is available as a conventional apparatus for assisting driving of a vehicle. After estimating that the vehicle will proceed onto the branch road, the apparatus notifies the driver that a speed of the vehicle is to be controlled to a suitable speed for the branch road, and when a refusal is not received from the driver in response, the apparatus controls the speed of the vehicle to a suitable speed for the branch road.
However, when a plurality of consecutive junctions occur within a short distance on the travel road, for example, destinations ahead of the junctions must be selected in a short amount of time, making it difficult for the driver to select the destination of the vehicle smoothly. When the apparatus described above is employed in this case, it may be impossible to estimate precisely that the vehicle will proceed onto the branch road and control the speed of the vehicle appropriately to a suitable speed for the branch road.